Education Week Feature

July 27, 2017

Education Week Feature

Socrates' Mission

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BYU Studies Staff

This year BYU Studies is again sponsoring classes at Campus Education Week, August 21–25, 2017, on BYU campus in Provo, Utah. Whether or not you are able to attend, we invite you to read the articles on which the presentations will be based.

Daniel W. Graham's article "Socrates' Mission," was published in BYU Studies Vol. 55, No. 4. Daniel Graham will be giving his presentation "Socrates' Mission" on Aug. 25 at 1:50 in 2258–2260 CONF as part of the Best of BYU Studies series.

Article Summary:

Many scholars have been dismissive of Socrates' religious tendencies, but Daniel W. Graham asserts that Socrates performed a kind of sacred mission by encouraging his fellow citizens to care for the integrity of the soul rather than emulating certain gods of vice. Socrates maintained that mortals honor the gods best when they are living upright, moral lives. In the process, Socrates fairly invented moral philosophy.

Socrates was condemned and executed for alleged crimes against the state and their religion. He became a martyr to his immediate followers, and to those in the early Christian era, he came to be seen as a kind of pro to-Christian disciple and even a type of Christ.

Below is a list of BYU Studies authors who are presenting classes independently.